1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polarizing plate with a retardation layer and an image display apparatus using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, image display apparatus typified by a liquid crystal display apparatus and an organic EL display apparatus have been rapidly gaining more widespread use. In the image display apparatus, a polarizing plate and a retardation plate are typically used. In practical use, a polarizing plate with a retardation layer, in which the polarizing plate and the retardation plate are integrated, is widely used (for example, Japanese Patent No. 3325560). In this connection, recently, along with an increasing demand for thinning of the image display apparatus, there has also been an increasing demand for thinning of the polarizing plate with a retardation layer.
Incidentally, for the purposes of, for example, preventing a variation in quality and/or streamlining image display apparatus assembly, the polarizing plate with a retardation layer is typically bonded onto a liquid crystal cell or an organic EL cell (hereinafter collectively referred to as “display cell”) under a state in which an adhesive layer formed of a pressure-sensitive adhesive or an adhesive is arranged in advance. In this case, when foreign matter, such as a contaminant or an air bubble, is incorporated at the time of bonding onto the display cell, the portion into which the foreign matter has been incorporated hinders viewing. Accordingly, the polarizing plate with a retardation layer in which the foreign matter has been incorporated is peeled and removed from the display cell, and the display cell is reused. Such operation in image display apparatus assembly is called rework.
In recent years, the rework has been performed using liquid nitrogen in some cases. In the case where the polarizing plate has a large thickness, even when the display cell and the polarizing plate with a retardation layer cannot be peeled from each other through the rework with liquid nitrogen, no problem arises because the rework can be manually performed. Meanwhile, in the case where the polarizing plate has a small thickness, an attempt to manually perform the rework often results in a failure to peel off the polarizing plate with a retardation layer owing to its breakage. Accordingly, there is a demand for a thin polarizing plate with a retardation layer which can be satisfactorily peeled from a display cell through the rework with liquid nitrogen.